A wireless local area network (WLAN) basic service set (BSS) in an infrastructure mode has an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP typically has access or interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired or wireless network that carries traffic in and out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS arrives through the AP and is delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS is sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent to through the AP where the source STA sends traffic to the AP and the AP delivers the traffic to the destination STA. Such traffic between STAs within a BSS is peer-to-peer traffic. Such peer-to-peer traffic may be sent directly between the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS) using an IEEE 802.11e DLS or an IEEE 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN in an independent BSS mode has no AP and STAs communicate directly with each other.
New spectrum is being allocated in various countries around the world for wireless communication systems. Such spectrum is often quite limited in the size and also in the bandwidth of the channels. The spectrum may be fragmented in the available channels, and may not be adjacent and may not be combined for larger bandwidth transmissions. Such is the case for example in spectrum allocated below 1 GHz in some countries. WLAN systems, for example built on the 802.11 standards, may be designed to operate in such spectrum. Given the limitations of such spectrum, the WLANs may be able to support smaller bandwidths and lower data rates compared to high throughput (HT) or very high throughput (VHT) WLAN systems for example based on the 802.11n or 802.11ac standards.